


Leaves and Vines and Humankind

by SapphyreLily



Series: Sunlight Through A Glass Window [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Humor, Sentient Plants, basically humans and their plants, oikawa and iwaizumi are plants, suga is also a plant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 08:18:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7500936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphyreLily/pseuds/SapphyreLily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oikawa Week Day 3 - Beginnings/Endings/Green (Growth/Self-Reliance)</p><p>Oikawa doesn't want to leave Takahiro. He's the only home he's ever known.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leaves and Vines and Humankind

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun writing this one ehehe. Literal plant AU :D

When Oikawa first wakes, it is in the dark. It is warm and comfortable, but dark. As his cognizance grows, so does his awareness of a voice crooning to him, to grow and wake, to set down root and flourish.

He likes the voice, and tries to do as it asks. Slowly, slowly, he can feel himself expanding, reaching towards the sky, unwinding from his fetal position. He feels himself stretching towards the ground as well, burrowing deeper into the warmth that provides water and nutrients.

It is a bright day when he bursts from his cocoon and sees the sun, feels the light shining on his face. The crooning voice is nowhere to be found, but he hides his disappointment because _it will be here soon_.

Right on schedule, he hears the voice calling out to him. It cries out in joy when it sees how he has grown, and soon a funny looking creature is peering at him, the gaping hole where sound emerges from it emitting wind that blows him backwards.

He soon links the creature (with a pink tufts at its top, is it a flower?) to the voice he has been hearing, the voice that dubbed him _Oikawa_ and refers to itself as _human_ or sometimes, _Takahiro._

He gets watered more often after that, the sweet droplets rolling off his newly budded leaves and soaking the soil he sprouted from. He enjoys the brightness of the sun, relishes its warmth as it gives him more energy to grow and expand and show off the hard work and effort that Takahiro has put into sustaining him.

One day, he is gently lifted from his warm spot and taken away, Takahiro's large hands cupping the container he is in. He passes through an arch, sees the big space divided into smaller spaces before passing under another arch, back into sunlight. He bounces in his pot, bobbing up and down with the breeze and the rhythm of the tune Takahiro sings.

He comes face to face with a large brown slab, a shiny round thing set in its side. Takahiro presses a white circle off the side of the slab, and a little melody plays from behind it.

The slab is pulled away from the inside, and he sees another creature, similar to Takahiro but with different features facing him. He wiggles his leaves at the creature – human? – but it does not react.

It steps to the side and invites Takahiro in, showing them to a warm place just like where Oikawa originally came from. Oikawa is excited to see more like him in colourful pots lining the space, but none of them react to him waving.

The human that is not Takahiro says, “Yours is so animated. Mine is such a quiet thing.”

Takahiro laughs and places Oikawa next to another pot with a small sapling inside, thicker in girth but shorter in height than him. He reaches over to prod a leaf, waving in a flurry when the leaf slaps him.

Above them, Takahiro _ooohs_. “What spirit yours has. What is it called?”

The other human snorts. “You _named_ yours?”

Takahiro humphs, a sound Oikawa has come to associate with taking insult. He waves his leaves angrily on his human's behalf, and Takahiro sees this, and so pets his stem lovingly.

“They _are_ sentient, you know. That’s why we were given them to raise in the first place. Besides, a name makes it more personal, makes you want to take care of them better.”

The other human hums, seemingly uncaring. “So what did you name yours?”

“Oikawa.” Takahiro says proudly, and he stands tall in his pot, showing off his leaves and how they _gleam_.

The human laughs. “Oh my god, yours is as obnoxious as you already. What lies do you tell it?”

Takahiro sounds offended. “Excuse you, Matsukawa, but my Oikawa is a perfect plant, unlike your– Your– Argh, whatever your plant is called!”

The human called Matsukawa snickers. “At least mine is well behaved.” It reaches out to stroke the stem of the plant next to Oikawa, and he _sees_ the plant lean into its touch, crooning gently.

Now Oikawa is offended, because that rude plant slapped him and made nice with a human instead.

Matsukawa laughs. “Hanamaki, I can see your plant glaring at me.”

Oikawa is confused because _who is Hanamaki_ when Takahiro answers, “I’m glaring at you too, you-who-does-not-name-his-plants.”

The plant in the pot next to him shoots upright at that, flapping its leaves at Takahiro in great offense. Takahiro does not seem to see it as the angry gesture that it is, from the way he laughs. “Oh, your plant is _adorable._ ”

“Excuse you, but Iwaizumi is going to be the best plant ever when it grows up.” Matsukawa folds its big branches, and if plant leaves and branches could bend, the newly-christened Iwaizumi would be doing the same.

Oikawa twitters his amusement, and Takahiro smirks. “You’re _on_. We’ll compare again when they need to be replanted.”

“Deal.” The humans join their small branches and jiggle them up and down, then Oikawa is picked up again and taken away.

“Don’t worry, Oikawa. We're gonna beat Issei and his tiny excuse of a plant.” Takahiro whispers to him as they make their way back to where they came from. “Let’s see how much I can teach you before you start speaking, eh?”

x.x.x.x.x

Oikawa learns a great deal from listening to Takahiro talk.

He learns about humans, about their many, many, _many_ weird customs and the different stages of a human and a bit on how to tell humans apart. He learns that humans are either female or male, not both like some plants are (he _thinks_ he’s male only, but he won’t know till he flowers) and that Takahiro and Matsukawa are considered male. He learns about the parts of a human, about the arms and legs and the face and how it is fingers that clean his leaves and pet his stem.

He learns that humans have many names, nicknames derived from the name that all the people they live with share (family), as well as their own name. So that time he heard Matsukawa (family name) call Takahiro (own name) by the name Hanamaki was actually his family name, and they were actually one and the same person.

It is all very confusing.

He learns a great many things, but he enjoys it most when Takahiro talks about the stars, the tiny lights in the sky that he sees at night when he's not sleeping. And when he finally develops his voice, a high-pitched squeaky thing, he flaps his leaves and insists on seeing them.

By then, it is close to replanting day, a day where he will no longer stay with Takahiro, but will be transplanted into a grove with others like him.

He is sad. He likes Takahiro and his warm, wet home, and he didn’t want to be replanted elsewhere if it meant rude plants like Iwaizumi were next to him.

But he has no choice in the matter, so all he can do is whine in his tinny voice and wave his leaves dejectedly.

(For what it is worth, Takahiro didn’t seem to like the idea of letting him go either.)

x.x.x.x.x

Replanting day arrives too quickly, and Oikawa is cradled in Takahiro’s arms when Matsukawa walks up to them, stumbling under the weight of the plant in his arms. Both their jaws drop (metaphorically, for Oikawa) when Matsukawa announces that _yes, it_ is _Iwaizumi, I did not get another plant, please ‘Hiro, have some faith._

Because the plant is _huge_ , leaves and vines spilling over everywhere, so dense and thick that no ray of light could pass through it. Oikawa immediately feels a bit cowed, his slim stem and elegant leaves tiny in comparison.

But then Matsukawa really _looks_ at him, and _his_ jaw drops. “What the hell, ‘Hiro.”

Takahiro glares at him, points at his plant, and says the same.

The two humans look at each other, look at their plants, look at their _friend's_ plant, look back at each other…

And burst out laughing.

Takahiro sounds like he’s dying, and has to put Oikawa down before he drops him. Oikawa manages to catch some of the salty tears that falls out of his eyes on his leaves. “You have a _buff_ plant, Issei. Seriously, what did you do to it?”

Matsukawa isn’t much better, his face red with what Oikawa thinks is the lack of oxygen. “Don’t talk to me about body shapes. Your plant is a freaking supermodel! Look how pretty it is, its leaves are _shiny._ ”

They fall into fresh hysterics, and Oikawa just flaps his leaves uselessly because this is the one human thing he would never understand.

A leaf pokes him, and he looks up to see a vine of Iwaizumi’s retreating. Some of his leaves are flushed darker, and his vines twist nervously. “Oikawa?”

Oh, even his _voice_ is delightful, all deep and musical and velvety. Oikawa swoons a little, replying with a higher than usual “Yes?”

Iwaizumi’s leaves turn even darker. “You have nice leaves.”

Oikawa flashes his leaves just for something to do, since he’s still kind of flustered. “Of course. I get enough sun every day to make sure I stay pretty, you know?”

Iwaizumi snorts, a little jerk that ripples through all his very nice vines. “You’re so self-absorbed.”

“Excuse you, I know I’m pretty, and I can do what I like with it!” Oikawa waves his leaves for a touch of drama, and above him, the humans chuckle. He stops mid-wave and flushes a deep green, having forgotten that they were watching.

“Self-absorbed indeed.”

“Shh, Issei, they were flirting. Come on, give them a chance to interact!”

Matsukawa snorts. “Why don’t we just replant them next to each other, and they can spend the rest of their lives _interacting_.”

“That’s a very poor innuendo.” Takahiro tuts as he hoists Oikawa back up. “Plants don’t have sex.”

“Oh, but these are sentient plants, right? They can seductively brush stamens and pistils to cross-pollinate or something.”

“Yes, if they are flowering plants at all.”

“Stop being realistic for a moment and imagine with me.”

As the humans' conversation gets weirder and weirder, Oikawa looks around at the many other humans replanting their plants. The grove is full of plants like him who can talk and move, and he’s both excited and scared, because the only plant he has seen before today is Iwaizumi, and now he is going to have to _live_ next to all these foreign plants.

A vine curls around his slimmest branch, not letting go even when he jerks in surprise. He looks over and sees Iwaizumi with an extended vine, holding on though their humans weren’t walking at the same pace.

 _Don’t worry,_ he seems to be saying, and Oikawa pets the vine with a leaf, reassured.

Maybe Iwaizumi isn’t such a bad plant after all.

x.x.x.x.x

Takahiro finishes petting the soil down around his roots, swiping the back of his hand across his forehead and leaving a big smudge of dirt there. Oikawa helpfully points it out, but the smudge only grows larger when Takahiro scrubs at it.

Beside them, Matsukawa has also finished replanting Iwaizumi in the ground, and is stroking some of his vines. The plant curls around his hand, leaning into the touch and begging him not to go. Matsukawa sighs and pets his leaves, because that’s an impossible request. Humans aren’t allowed to keep sentient plants past their five month sproutday, though they could visit occasionally.

“Be a good plant, okay? Make sure you bother Iwaizumi all the time, but don’t let it pluck your pretty leaves.” Takahiro tells him solemnly, and Oikawa pets his outstretched hand as seriously as he can.

“Of course, of course. I won’t let you down! Come visit lots!”

Matsukawa is talking very loudly though they are side by side. “Iwaizumi, I trust you know how to take care of yourself better than Oikawa does.”

The plant looks unperturbed. “Of course. I’m not stupid, Issei.”

“Indulge me, we’re trying to one-up Makki here.”

“I honestly don’t see the point. You are mobile, and can do that any time you want.”

Matsukawa groans, and Oikawa giggles, uncaring that he wasn’t supposed to be listening. “Why did I get such a _sensible_ plant?”

Takahiro pets Oikawa’s stem smugly, whispering so loudly that Iwaizumi is sure to hear, “Torment it at every second of the day, you hear? Make sure it goes crazy by the next visit.”

“Of courseee.” Oikawa leans into Takahiro’s hand, giggling.

“Hey, Hanamaki! Matsukawa!” A new human voice calls out, and the humans turn to watch the other person approach.

“Hey, Sawamura! Oh, is that your plant?”

“Yeah. Pretty little thing, isn’t it?” The human called Sawamura holds up his silver-leaved plant proudly. “I’ll be sad to leave it here.”

The plant winds a vine around Sawamura’s arm, crooning softly that it doesn’t want to be left behind either.

Matsukawa stares at them for a while longer before turning to smirk at Takahiro. He asks Sawamura almost slyly, “What’s its name?”

“Name?” Sawamura looks taken aback.

Matsukawa laughs and points an accusing finger at Takahiro. “See, I told you people don’t name their plants!”

Takahiro scowls. “What, and I suppose you were going to keep calling yours ‘Planty, Planty' until it was time to replant it?”

“Well–“

“Uh, guys.” Sawamura looks abashed. “My plant is called Sugawara. Suga for short.”

Suga waves merrily from its pot.

Now Takahiro smirks. “See, Issei? Some of us love our plants enough to name them.”

“Excuse you, I love my Iwaizumi _a lot_ –“

They promptly dissolve into a loud and expressive argument. The uninvolved plants and humans look on with exasperation.

“I’ll just…go. And replant Suga.” Sawamura says lamely and shuffles away from the arguing duo. Oikawa snickers and waves his leaves in merriment.

There’s a tug at the leaves on his side and he turns to scold whoever it is for almost detaching his precious leaves–

“Oh. What is it?” It’s only Iwaizumi, who looks a little wary of their loudly arguing humans.

“Do you think Issei is right? That we don’t need names?” Iwaizumi sounds so _dejected_ , like he’s sad that his human didn’t love him enough to give him a name from the start.

Oikawa would have blinked in confusion if he had eyes. “No? I mean, we are sentient, and all sentient beings have names, even if they are only names they give themselves.”

“I guess so.” Iwaizumi still has that uncertain posture, that melancholy droop of his leaves. It’s such a weird sight that Oikawa finds himself offering, “Want me to give you a name?”

“Huh?” Iwaizumi looks confused, but also eager, his leaves perking up.

Oikawa nods, his leaves rustling noisily. “It’s a new phase of life, right? Since we’re gonna be stuck in this grove for pretty much forever, let’s have a new name to remember it!”

Iwaizumi is silent and still for the longest time before he says, “Okay. I’ll give you a name too, if you give me one.”

They don’t realise that their humans have stopped arguing, are watching them as they think up new names for each other.

Oikawa perks up suddenly. “I got it! Your new name is ‘Hajime’!”

“Ah. Thanks.” Iwaizumi doesn’t sound very impressed, and droops a little.

Oikawa is still waving about excitedly. “No, no, it’s perfect! We’re beginning a new phase of life; we may become dryads, we'll definitely grow into trees, we are starting so many new things! ‘Hajime’ means ‘beginning’, it’s perfect! I’m so smart!”

Iwaizumi reaches over and slaps Oikawa, who squeals in indignation. “Alright, alright, I accept. Just shut up so I can think!”

“Mean! Meanie Hajime!”

The humans struggle not to laugh at the offended Oikawa, and at the newly-named Hajime, who flushes deep green.

“Hajime, Hajime, Hajime, hurry uppp~ Hajime, Hajime, Haji–“

“Shut up!” A vine snaps out and slaps Oikawa, who whines unhappily.

“Hajime is so mean to me…”

Hajime mutters under his breath, but all the humans hear is an angry rustle of leaves.

“I got it. Tooru.”

“Eh?” Oikawa perks up, bouncing in place. “What’s that, what’s that mean?”

“To penetrate, to go through.”

Oikawa wilts. “That’s so boring!”

“Well, it describes you perfectly!” Hajime snaps, rustling angrily. “You’re always bothering me and your stupid voice just keeps getting into my head even when I try to block you out!”

“Oh.” Oikawa turns to Takahiro, only to see both humans staring at him intently. “Geh. Stop staring. Takahiro?”

“Hmm?” Takahiro tries to look uninterested and fails.

“What Hajime said… It means I’m doing a good job of annoying him, right?”

“Oh. Oh, _yes._ A spectacular job. Delightful. Absolutely wonderful.” Takahiro nods seriously, but Oikawa can see the smile dancing at the edges of his mouth.

“In that case…” Oikawa turns back to Hajime. “I accept your name! I’ll bother you forever after, just watch me!”

Hajime rustles with irritation. “You’re not supposed to be so happy about ruining my existence!”

“But that’s my purpose in life now~ Hajime, Hajime, Hajimeeee~”

“Gaaah! Shut _up_ , Tooru!”

Matsukawa exchanges a fond smile with Hanamaki. “Seems like they’ll get along after all.”

“Ah, don’t be too sure about that. Oikawa is a persistent plant.”

A high pitched yelp makes them look back at the plants, only to see Iwaizumi's vines choking Oikawa.

They jump in with a panicked shout, unwinding vines and pulling the plants as far apart as possible to ensure they don’t kill each other.

Maybe it would be safer to take things one day at a time. Besides, the plants had the rest of their lives to figure out how to co-exist.


End file.
